Apple Gets 'Samsunged' Yet Again in Latter's Super Bowl Teaser Will it really dent the iPhone?By David Gianatasio

January 23, 2012, 8:51 AM EST

Samsung will try hard to sell us a line about Apple in its upcoming Super Bowl commercial by 72andsunny, but I'm not buying. As in the client's similarly themed spot from November, Apple's presence is suggested by a nameless technology store with a long line of fans waiting outside. A scruffy, bespectacled tech-head in the queue, miffed that Samsung's Galaxy S II features a free turn-by-turn directions app, while his favorite brand's release does not, moans, "Aw, we've been Samsunged." Wearing stripes and a dark cap and seated on the sidewalk behind a barricade, he looks like a prisoner. That's a neat visual touch, and the teaser for the commercial (below) is mildly amusing. Still, more than anything else, the overall approach puts the Apple brand in my mind—and reminds me that some folks routinely wait for hours on line for products from the House That Jobs Built—without even referencing Apple by name. It gives Apple a Super Bowl presence of sorts, as all discussions of the Samsung spot have and will reference Apple. Moreover, a mocking tone and assertions of superiority based on a free app do not add up to a compelling brand message. The challenger seems Granny Smith-green with envy, dreaming that its products might command the same round-the-block loyalty as its rival. Sure, Samsung will get a perception bump just by running a Super Bowl spot, like every other brand on the telecast, but such gains will likely be as lasting as, oh, Motorola's 2011 big-game ad for its Xoom device, which, as Mashable notes, "did not become a hit and did little to dent Apple's commanding lead in the tablet market." Bottom line: Samsung has about as much chance of stopping Apple as the Giants have of winning the Super Bowl. Go Pats!

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Samsung will try hard to sell us a line about Apple in its upcoming Super Bowl commercial by 72andsunny, but I'm not buying. As in the client's similarly themed spot from November, Apple's presence is suggested by a nameless technology store with a long line of fans waiting outside. A scruffy, bespectacled tech-head in the queue, miffed that Samsung's Galaxy S II features a free turn-by-turn directions app, while his favorite brand's release does not, moans, "Aw, we've been Samsunged." Wearing stripes and a dark cap and seated on the sidewalk behind a barricade, he looks like a prisoner. That's a neat visual touch, and the teaser for the commercial (below) is mildly amusing. Still, more than anything else, the overall approach puts the Apple brand in my mind—and reminds me that some folks routinely wait for hours on line for products from the House That Jobs Built—without even referencing Apple by name. It gives Apple a Super Bowl presence of sorts, as all discussions of the Samsung spot have and will reference Apple. Moreover, a mocking tone and assertions of superiority based on a free app do not add up to a compelling brand message. The challenger seems Granny Smith-green with envy, dreaming that its products might command the same round-the-block loyalty as its rival. Sure, Samsung will get a perception bump just by running a Super Bowl spot, like every other brand on the telecast, but such gains will likely be as lasting as, oh, Motorola's 2011 big-game ad for its Xoom device, which, as Mashable notes, "did not become a hit and did little to dent Apple's commanding lead in the tablet market." Bottom line: Samsung has about as much chance of stopping Apple as the Giants have of winning the Super Bowl. Go Pats!